Portable abdominal exercise seat

ABSTRACT

This is an exercise device that sits on the floor used for sit-ups/crunches and core body exercise twists. Handles affixed to the stationary base plate of the device allow user to grasp and pull up body for easier, modified crunches/sit-ups, as well as to turn the body to the right and left on a rotatable seat plate during abdominal twist exercises. The seat of the device rotates on a fixed axis pin or be secured on its perimeter in a manner to still allow rotation. An optional waist/knee strap-belt secured to the stationary base plate allows the user to anchor his body down while exercise allowing greater leverage to lift body weight and/or external weights while and reducing unwanted leg lift. The device also has optional front and lumbar cushion support. The device is small enough to easily carry to gym or on trips.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO PRIOR APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application61/999,994 by Daniel Vaughan Wilson for “Three Resistance ExerciseDevices” filed on Aug. 11,2014.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

This invention relates to exercise equipment, and more particularlyrelates to a portable exercise device for building abdominal strength.

Description of the Related Art

Businessmen and working fathers often lack to the time to exercise atcommercial gymnasiums and find it more convenient to exercise at home.Standard exercise equipment is prohibitively large, expensive andcumbersome for home use. Many and varied types of compact exercisedevices are available to help replace cumbersome gym equipment in homesettings and assist individuals in their efforts to improve generalstrength, endurance and/or to mitigate specific health issues that needphysical therapy.

The prior art includes complicated apparati comprising weight machinesand pneumatic or spring compression devices used for a large variety ofconditioning activities such as cardiovascular and physical therapy, aswell as increasing core strength, and strengthening abdominal bodymuscles. Some exercise devices employ elastomeric resistance as a meansof developing or measuring strength. Often they are designed withnumerous moving parts, and are constrained by their own components anddesign to a very limited number of types of exercises. Certain musclesgroups, such as the core muscles, have very few simple portable devicesdesigned for their exercise or strength measurement, due to thedifficulties in designing a simple apparatus that can correctly resistthe varied angles of contracting abdominal muscle motions leading tosuch development and measurement. Many patented portable devices thattarget difficult areas of the body to exercise such as these arecomplicated and difficult to find on the market.

There are no new extremely simple devices in the art which target themuscles of a user's core, which a focus on the abdominals, which can bestowed in a space as compact as a drawer. Thus it would be highlybeneficial to provide a simple, compact portable device that targets theabdominal region.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

From the foregoing discussion, it should be apparent that a need existsfor an improved portable abdominal muscle exercise device. Beneficially,such an exercise device would overcome many of the difficulties withprior art by providing a more functional apparatus to consumers. Thepresent invention has been developed in response to the present state ofthe art, and in particular, in response to the problems and needs in theart that have not yet been fully solved by currently available apparatiand methods. Accordingly, the present invention has been developed toprovide a portable abdominal exercise device comprising a legless seatfor doing sit-ups, crunches, and body twists; wherein the seat comprisesa bottom surface base plate for engaging a ground surface; wherein a topsurface of the seat is from 0.25″ to 7″ above the bottom surface; andwherein the seat comprises at least one of the following additionalfeatures: fixed handles on each side to assist the user to pull himselfup during sit-up type exercises; and a rotatable seat plate on thestationary seat base disposed centrally on the seat base, whereupon theuser places his buttocks during exercise, whereupon the user can twisthis body in either direction about a z-axis while holding onto the fixedside handles, while exercising the oblique muscles of the torso.

The device wherein the seat comprises a waist belt-strap connectable tothe sides of the seat base to wrap over and secure and stabilize thewaist and thighs of the user in relation to the base, to increaseleverage and enable the user greater leverage to more efficiently pullthe body up during sit-up type exercises;

The device wherein the seat comprises a knee belt-strap connectable tothe sides of the seat base to wrap over and secure and stabilize theknees in relation to the seat base, to increase leverage and enable theuser greater leverage to more efficiently pull the body up during sit-uptype exercises;

The device wherein the seat comprises a raised cushion on its surfacefor supporting the tailbone and buttocks of the user.

The device wherein the seat comprises raised cushion sections on itssurface for supporting the rear lumbar and front gluteus regions of theuser.

The device wherein the seat base is constructed of at least one of thefollowing: a rigid polymer material, an elastic polymer material, acombination of polymers, metal, wood.

The device wherein the cushion pad is comprised of at least one of thefollowing materials: a single molded polymer material, an inflatablepolymer bladder, a combination of elastic polymers such as a gel andelastic foam, elastic foam core covered with polymer skin.

The device wherein the device is employed by a user to do sit-ups,crunches, and body twists and rotations to strengthen muscles andtendons in the abdominal region.

Also disclosed is a portable abdominal exercise device comprising acircular base plate for engaging a ground surface, the circular baseplate having a planar top surface and a planar bottom surface; acircular top plate whereupon the user places his buttocks duringexercise, the circular base plate having a planar bottom surface, thecircular top plate rotatable affixed to be able to rotate on a centralaxis point on the base plate; and fixed handles on each side to assistthe user to twist and lift his legs and torso during exercises;

The device wherein there is a plurality of cushions affixed to the topsurface; and a belt for securing a body of a user into the seat.

These features and advantages of the present invention will become morefully apparent from the following description and appended claims, ormay be learned by the practice of the invention as set forthhereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order that the advantages of the invention will be readilyunderstood, a more particular description of the invention brieflydescribed above will be rendered by reference to specific embodimentsthat are illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that thesedrawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are nottherefore to be considered to be limiting of its scope, the inventionwill be described and explained with additional specificity and detailthrough the use of the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevated side-top perspective view of an abdominal exerciseseat with fixed handles on each side in accordance with the presentinvention, a seat plate which in this embodiment can rotate, and astationary base plate beneath the rotatable seat plate;

FIG. 2 is an elevated side-top perspective view of an abdominal exerciseseat with fixed handles on each side in accordance with the presentinvention; and

FIG. 3 is a top perspective view of an abdominal exercise seat withfixed handles on each side, a stationary base plate and a seat platethat can rotate in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “anembodiment,” or similar language means that a particular feature,structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodimentis included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus,appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment,” “in an embodiment,” andsimilar language throughout this specification may, but do notnecessarily, all refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, thedescribed features, structures, or characteristics of the invention maybe combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In thefollowing description, numerous specific details are provided to providea thorough understanding of embodiments of the invention. One skilled inthe relevant art will recognize, however, that the invention may bepracticed without one or more of the specific details, or with othermethods, components, materials, and so forth. In other instances,well-known structures, materials, or operations are not shown ordescribed in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the invention.

FIG. 1 is an elevated side-top perspective view of an abdominal exerciseseat 100 with fixed handles 101 a-b on each side in accordance with thepresent invention.

The exercise seat 100 comprises a handle 101 a, a handle 101 b, a seatplate 102 a, which in this embodiment is rotatable, and a stationarybase plate 103.

The handles 101 a-b may be fastened as independent pieces to thestationary base plate 103 or molded all as one unit with the base plate103.

The handles 101 a-b may be fastened as independent pieces to the seatplate 102 or molded all as one unit with the seat plate 102 a-b.

The handles 101 a-b will protrude from the device sufficiently to allowthe user to get hands around them for gripping purposes.

The handles 101 a-b may consist of metal or plastic or any form ofpolymer.

The stationary base plate 103 may be round or of any other shape, andconsist of metal, wood or polymer materials.

The seat plate 102 a-b may be round or of any other shape and consist ofmetal, wood or polymer materials.

The seat plate 102 a may rotate on an actual axis pin at its center orrotate on a virtual central axis point but not be actually fastened tothe stationary base plate at that center point; it may be kept in placeby some other means such as by being contained at its perimeter in amanner that still allows it to move freely in rotation around thevirtual axis.

FIG. 2 an elevated side-top perspective view of an abdominal exerciseseat 200 with fixed handles 101 a-b on each side, a seat plate 102 bwhich in this embodiment is fixed to the stationary base plate in amanner that it does not rotate, and an attached belt 105 to secure thewaist (also called a “waist belt strap” or a “knee belt-strap”), thighs,or knees to the seat in accordance with the present invention.

The “waist belt strap” or “knee belt-strap” 105 can be attached to thesides of the stationary base plate or the seat plate, be adjustable inlength, and be removable.

The “waist belt strap” or “knee belt-strap” 105 may use a standardbuckle mechanism, a “Velcro” type mechanism, a clipping mechanism or anyother type of mechanism to attach around the user's knees, waist orthighs.

FIG. 3 is a top perspective view of an abdominal exercise seat 100 withfixed handles 101 a-b on each side, a rotatable seat plate 102 a, astationary base plate 103, and a rotation axis connection 104 betweenthe stationary and rotating plates 102 a and 103.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms withoutdeparting from its spirit or essential characteristics. The describedembodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrativeand not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicatedby the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. Allchanges which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of theclaims are to be embraced within their scope.

What is claimed is:
 1. A portable abdominal exercise device comprising: a legless seat for doing sit-ups, crunches, and body twists; wherein the seat comprises a bottom surface base plate for engaging a ground surface; wherein a top surface of the seat is from 0.25″ to 7″ inches above the bottom surface; and wherein the seat comprises at least one of the following additional features: fixed handles on each side to assist the user to pull himself up during sit-up type exercises; and a rotatable seat plate on the stationary seat base configured to rotate axially around a central axis point disposed centrally on the seat base; whereupon the user places his buttocks during exercise; whereupon the user can twist his body in either direction about a z-axis while holding onto the fixed side handles, while exercising the oblique muscles of the torso.
 2. The device of claim 1 wherein the seat comprises a waist belt-strap connectable to the sides of the seat base to wrap over and secure and stabilize the waist and thighs of the user in relation to the base, to increase leverage and enable the user greater leverage to more efficiently pull the body up during sit-up type exercises.
 3. The device of claim 1 wherein the seat comprises a knee belt-strap connectable to the sides of the seat base to wrap over and secure and stabilize the knees in relation to the seat base, to increase leverage and enable the user greater leverage to more efficiently pull the body up during sit-up type exercises.
 4. The device of claim 1, further comprising a raised cushion surface for supporting the tailbone and buttocks of the user.
 5. The device of claim 1, further comprising a raised cushion section on a top surface for supporting the rear lumbar and front gluteus regions of the user.
 6. The device of claim 1 wherein the seat base is constructed of at least one of the following: a rigid polymer material, an elastic polymer material, a combination of polymers, metal, and wood.
 7. The device of claim 1 wherein the cushion pad is comprised of a single molded polymer material, an inflatable polymer bladder, a combination of elastic polymers such as a gel and elastic foam, elastic foam core covered with polymer skin.
 8. The device of claim 1 wherein the device is employed to do sit-ups, crunches, and body twists to strengthen muscles and tendons in the abdominal region.
 9. A portable abdominal exercise device comprising: a circular base plate for engaging a ground surface, the circular base plate having a planar top surface and a planar bottom surface; a circular top plate whereupon the user places his buttocks during exercise, the circular base plate having a planar bottom surface, the circular top plate rotatable affixed to be able to rotate on a central axis point on the base plate; and fixed handles on each side to assist the user to twist and lift his legs and torso during exercises; and a plurality of cushions affixed to the top surface; and a belt for securing a body of a user into the seat. 